Pigeon recall election Tuesday

MATT TREADWELL

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Sunday, September 26, 2004

The recall ballot, initiated by village resident Deborah McNamara, asks if Miller and Geiger should be recalled for failure to acknowledge citizen complaints while they served on the municipality's former police committee.

In their ballot rebuttals, both Miller and Geiger contend they acted in the best interest of the village while they served on the committee.

"It's nothing personal," McNamara said about her recall effort. "When they sat on the police committee with the former police chief, they did not take care of business.

"If you don't do your job, you do not belong in office."

Geiger said he had no comment about Tuesday's recall election but says on the ballot that "protecting the very structure of our community has always been my goal."

Miller could not be reached for comment but said on the ballot that "all complaints brought to the (police) committee were studied" and he has tried to "fulfill the duties of the office of trustee to the best of my ability."

The citizen complaints referred to on the recall ballot concern the village's former police chief, Brent Doxtader, who resigned from his position in September 2003 after going on administrative leave. The Miller and Geiger recall effort formally got under way the same month.

The village's police committee was dissolved in July 2003 after recommendations were made by a citizen review committee. That citizen panel was formed in June 2003 after about 200 village residents attended a council meeting mostly asking for then Police Chief Doxtader to be fired because of what many claimed were abuses of his power.

Miller and Geiger said in their ballot rebuttals that Doxtader was not fired because of legal concerns raised by the village's attorney over an apparent "unwarranted dismissal." McNamara's recall proposal suggests the two trustees wasted village money on legal fees.

If they are not recalled, both Miller and Geiger's current terms on the village council are set to end in February.

Geiger has sat on the council "on-and-off" since at least 1986, village Clerk Janet Heckman said. Miller has sat on the council since 1991.

Recall polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the Pigeon Municipal Building at 59 S. Main St.